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Neetha
The Neetha are an African tribe residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who are known for their elusiveness, cannibalism and brutality. History Early History The Neetha were already an old tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when they stumbled across a shrine built by a super-ancient civilisation, which they began using as their own home. Within the shrine, the Neethans discovered the Sacred Stone later referred to as the Seeing Stone of Delphi, which with the shrine materials they could see a Zero-Point energy field. Learning of its world-ending potential, the Neetha came to worship this Dark Star as their God, hoping to see it one day end the world and reward their devotion by removing them from their mortal coils. Over time, the Neethans learned the written language of Thoth, as well as how to speak it, though it is unknown if they actually learned it prior to their settling or if they did so afterwards. The Neethan Warlocks learned the secrets of the maze in their settlement, and so were put in charge of their treasures and sacred knowledge, while the tribe's warriors began using Hyenas as guard dogs. The Neetha eventually began engaging in cannibalism, doing so over many generations until it began to cause facial deformities to occur, a symptom of Proteus syndrome. In around 205 BC, the Greek explorer Hieronymus discovered the Neetha, and from him they learned the Greek language and more about the outside world. Hieronymus eventually stole the Seeing Stone from them, and while he eventually returned it to them, the explorer was never seen again, presumably the Neetha punished Hieronymus by canablising him. As a result of Hieronymus's betrayal, the Neetha warlocks began to see fit to ensure that no outsiders who encountered them ever left, encouraging the tribe's warriors by telling them that sacrificing themselves to do so would ensure their place in heaven. Some time after the 13th century, one of the Machine's Pillars was taken from the Temple of Solomon the Templars, and somehow ended up with the Neetha. The Neetha revered the Second Pillar along with the rest of their treasures, and soon the Neetha warlocks discovered the entrance of the Pillar's corresponding Vertex, passing the knowledge of its locations down through the ages. Before The Six Sacred Stones Towards the present day, many groups of explorers, warmongers and security patrols stumbled upon the Neetha's location, among them the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who barely escaped with his life. They destroyed vehicles that had brought the intruders and killed them to keep their location secret, while also taking possession of the firearms and other weapons that their victims often carried. It was suspected by the outside world that the Neetha were responsible for the disappearance of a thousand Rwandan refugees following the 1998 genocides. Prior to the beginning of the 21st century, Rano became the tribe's chief and Yanis was made the head warlock. In 2002, anthropologist Diane Cassidy led an expedition to find the Neetha to see what they knew in regards to the Machine and the Six Ramesean Stones, but they were captured by their quarry. Cassidy was allowed to live as Rano's eighth wife, while the rest of her party was devoured. Over the five years she was imprisoned, she taught Ono English and came to learn to speak the language of Thoth. By late 2007, Max "Wizard" Epper considered the Neetha's suspected connection to the Machine vital to its restoration, and requested Jack West Jr's aid at one stage to help to research them, making various notes about the tribe in the course of his research. The Six Sacred Stones Once the mission to restore the Machine began in December 2007, Iolanthe Compton-Jones affirmed to Jack that the Neetha had reputedly held the second Pillar for generations, thus confirming Wizard's suspicions. Jack determined that once they had placed the first Pillar, the team's next goal would be to find the Neetha and the Pillar in the week before the second Pillar had to be set. A few days after Wizard, Zoe Kissane, Lily West, Alby Calvin and Solomon Kol set search for the Neetha tribe, they encountered the tribe just outside of their settlement. While being distracted by the ancient carved trees their helicopter was destroyed to prevent their escape, and the Neetha warriors quickly captured them and brought them into the village. After discovering that they possessed the first Pillar, the Philosopher's Stone and Firestone, Yanis questioned why they had come, and though surprised to hear Lily responding in the Thoth language, decided he didn't trust her to translate and demanded Cassidy be their interpreter. Wizard relayed their desire to borrow the tribe's Pillar so as to restore the Machine, however Yanis and the other Neetha dismissed him out of their worship to Nepthys, and took the Pillar and cleansing Stones from them before imprisoning them on a platform on the lake. Several curious villagers observed the group of outsiders, with the children being curious about Alby's glasses while the women tried to determine if the short-haired Zoe was in fact a woman. Soon, however, Warano and his entourage sent them away while the first-born son of the chieftain decided if he wanted to make one of the females his new bride. After dismissing Zoe due to her likely of having already being "touched", Warano demanded Lily answer if she already had a husband. Unaware of exactly what was happening, Lily responded in distaste that she did not, thus setting Warano's mind on claiming the young girl. During the middle of the night, Yanis sent one of his priests with the Seeing Stone and Firestone to the pinnacle of the volcano, where they used them and the shrine's inclinometer to allow Yanis to see the Dark Sun, affirming the existence of the Neetha's god to them. Later, while everyone else slept, Ono neared the prisoner platform and got Lily's attention, and the two began talking about their respective worlds long until dawn. The following morning, Warano pronounced his claim to the whole village his intent to make Lily his bride, inviting anyone who opposed him to step forward. Warano was surprised when Solomon announced his intent to fight for Lily's freedom, and the pair met on the fighting platform. Warano quickly and ruthlessly assaulted his opponent, and soon beheaded Solomon and left him for the crocodiles to feed on. Though certain that no one else would dare challenge him, Zoe made her own challenge to Warano. Though the entire village was surprised a woman would dare to challenge him, Zoe enticed him with the offer of becoming his bride as well if he won; since owning two white women would greatly improve his status in the village, Warano agreed. Once they began their duel, Warano used his greater size and strength to keep Zoe parrying his blows and unable to fight back. However, Zoe, knowing she couldn't match the Neethan man for strength and trying to buy for time until Wolf and the CIEF arrived, was intentionally not fighting back to wear Warano down. Soon Warano became tired and allowed Zoe an opportunity to ram her sword into his throat. Zoe shouted to the gathered Neetha that her killing of him was for all the little girls he had "married" before pushing him into the lake, and the paralyzed Warano was torn apart by the crocodiles. Rano was furious at the death of his first-born son, and because hurting and killing a member of the royal family was the worst crime among the Neetha, Yanis condemned Zoe to the village's maze as punishment, thinking that she would have no way to get through and thus allowing the Neethan warlock to claim that the gods had punished her. Allowing Zoe to have Alby accompany her into the maze, the Neetha lingered on the lake edge to await the news that they had been hunted down and killed. Meanwhile, the CIEF soldiers Switchblade and Broadsword and a hundred Congolese soldiers reached the village outskirts, having tracked the helicopter Wizard's team had been using to get there. Their air support warned them of the Neetha warriors attempting to sneak up on them, and so they were able to turn the tables on their attempted assailants and begin approaching the village, assaulting the entry fort along the way. The sounds of the attack alerted the Neetha to the intruders, and they began scattering to hide and gather up weapons. As the CIEF-Congolese force began attacking the main village, several of the Neetha's warriors and priests began firing back at the intruders, however the weapons they had taken over the years had been poorly maintained and their enemies had more efficient ones. In the chaos, Yanis and some of his priests moved to try and gather up their sacred treasures, only to encounter Zoe and Alby and have them take the Seeing Stone and second Pillar. As Cassidy and Ono helped Wizard and Lily prepare to escape, Rano confronted them, refusing to let them leave. Cassidy instead shot Rano and two of his sons in revenge for her years of imprisonment. A few Neetha warriors managed to get aboard the clipper the escapees were attempting to flee on and began shooting at the engines to prevent their escape, however they only managed to kill themselves as the plane crashed while Wizard's group fled onboard the Halicarnassus. In the aftermath, several of the Neetha villagers and warriors were rounded up by the CIEF and Congolese soldiers and flex-tied to keep them secure. Yanis demanded to speak to Wolf directly, offering to lead him to the second Vertex beneath Table Mountain. Wolf agreed, and soon the CIEF left the Neetha village. After The Six Sacred Stones Though the state of the entire Neetha tribe is unclear following the attack on the village, Ono was left in the hands of a charital organisation that helped displaced tribal children adapt into modern society, while Wolf continued to keep Yanis around in case he still had useful information, until Cassidy was permitted by Carnivore to kill him in revenge for the Neetha's imprisonment of her. (The Five Greatest Warriors) Known Neethans *Rano (the Tribe Chief) *Yanis (the Warlock) *Warano (the Chief's first son) *Ono (the Chief's seventh son) Description Physical Features The entire Neetha tribe suffers from Proteus disease, giving them facial deformities, and made much worse by their cannibalistic diet and inbreeding over the generations. Neetha Society . Trivia *The Neetha were nicknamed by Hieronymus as "The tribe that even great Hades fears". **After the revelation in The Four Legendary Kingdoms that Hades is in fact the title of every King of Underworld, it could well be that either; ***A previous Hades encountered the Neetha and came to fear them, or else heard of their despicable acts from Hieronymus and feared them by their reputation. ***The phrase was born with no real connection to any of the Kings of Underworld and simply a description Hieronymus made to make them more fearsome. Category:African Characters Category:The Six Sacred Stones Category:The Five Greatest Warriors Category:Tribes